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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Hola! We just wanted to touch base with all of you who are keeping up with our journey as we try to make it to Bolivia. We apologize for it being so long since we last sent you an update.

HOME - For Sale OR Lease

We decided to list our home for lease in addition to it being for sale back at the beginning of July in hopes that we might find someone to lease sooner than buy. We have had some interest, but no contracts have materialized. We have had at least three open houses this summer and a few showings, but again, no success. We have reduced the sell price of our home several times and are considering reducing the rent price as well to hopefully heighten interest in this difficult market. God is still in control and His timing is still perfect. He is never late in providing, but always right on time!

SUPPORT
We have been praying for God to bring in the last $1000 of monthly support as we get close to leaving. We have had a couple of people join our monthly financial support team recently but need more. We have been asking God to prompt those who have given us a verbal commitment to begin giving now. We are trying hard not to use any of the money given thus far toward's our mission support but may need to in order to get through the next two months. On that note Lowell has been praying for more music students (guitar, bass, drums) to help provide for our needs while we wait. He's also been able to lead worship for some local churches which has helped provide money to pay our bills and put food on the table for the past few weeks. Praise God for this provision! Click here to know how to give: http://ballewmissionjourney.blogspot.com/p/give.html

DOWNSIZING
We continue to downsize and simplify our life by selling household items, musical equipment, and toys. We recently put our 1998 GMC Suburban up for sale and have been looking for ways to cut back on our bills - cutting cable down to the bare minimum, cutting back cell phone service, living with AC on higher settings, keeping our blinds shut during the day, and not eating out just to name a few. With all these changes we hope to decrease our current living expenses several hundred dollars a month.

HOW YOU CAN PRAY
-For Lowell to obtain more music students for the remainder of our time here.
-For the rest of our support to come in as we try to get to 100% of our goal.
-For our home to sale or lease
-For our Suburban to sell quickly
-For our continued preparation while we wait patiently (spiritually, emotionally, mentally)

PRAISES
-God's provision financially
-An offer to borrow a friend's minivan once we sell suburban
-Continued confirmation that we are in God's Will
-A fun, memory filled summer with lots of travel, swimming, and summer camps!

We swam so much the kids started to groan when we said we were going!

This car has served us well for 9+ years!

We were blessed to visit San Antonio with Lowell's parents while Aidan was at Jr. High Camp